It was everything a championship main event is supposed to be.
Two battered fighters throwing hard shots to the final buzzer, which was followed by both men then throwing their hands to the air in anticipation of a victory.
But once Bruce Buffer hit the phrase "and new," only one continued the celebration.
Having survived a five-round grind for the first time in a 10-plus-year career, Du Plessis collapsed into the arms of his corner team and his father, exulting in the split decision that saw him take two scorecards by 48-47 margins to offset a dissenting score in Strickland's favor by the same margin.
The B/R card also had it 48-47 for Du Plessis.
"This is history," the new champion said, wrapping himself in the South African flag as a video board showed his gleeful fans back home. "You can probably go silent in here and hear them outside."
They were certainly 25 minutes worthy of celebration.
Vocal rivals throughout the fight's build-up, Strickland and Du Plessis delivered a close, compelling scrap that warranted the hype. Strickland controlled the first round with the same methodical style that had bamboozled Israel Adesanya last year, but Du Plessis adjusted and turned up his aggression in rounds two, three and four, forcing Strickland to fight off his back foot and mixing in takedown attempts so he couldn't focus entirely on striking defense.
He opened a nasty cut alongside the champion's right eye with an elbow in the fourth, then withstood a fifth-round rally in which Strickland once again pressed forward but wasn't able to land anything that put Du Plessis, whose supposedly suspect cardio was never an issue, in imminent danger.
Strickland didn't argue the decision and instead lauded the champion before exiting the cage following a brief interview.
"I called it," he said. "I said it was gonna be a f--king war. Hats off to the new champion. Congratulations to him."
